Companies often hire agents to represent them in a particular business or negotiation, relying on agents` superior skills, contacts, or basic information to close deals. If the Agent has a real or obvious power of attorney, the Agent will not be liable for actions taken under that authority as long as the Agency`s relationship and the Client`s identity have been disclosed. However, if the agency is not or partially disclosed, the agent and client are liable. If the client is not bound because he does not have an actual or obvious power of attorney, the alleged vicarious agent is liable to the third party for the breach of the implied warranty of authorization. In Watteau v. Fenwick,[6] Justice Lord Coleridge agreed with The opinion of Judge Wills on Queen`s Bench that a third party could hold personally liable a client he knew when selling cigars to an agent acting outside his authority. Judge Wills noted that “the principal is responsible for all acts of the agent that fall within the authority normally entrusted to a representative of that nature, regardless of the restrictions imposed between the principal and the representative of that power of attorney.” This decision is strongly criticized and questioned[7], although it is not completely annulled in the United Kingdom. It is sometimes called “habitual authority” (but not in the sense used by Lord Denning MR in Hely-Hutchinson, where it is synonymous with “implicit real authority”). It has been explained as a form of apparent authority or “inherent agency power.” As these questions suggest, agency law often involves three parties – the principal, the agent and a third party. It therefore deals with three different relationships: between the client and the agent, between the client and the third party, and between the authorised representative and the third party. These relationships can be summarized in a simple diagram (see Figure 11.1 “Agency Relationships”). An agent has rights that he can assert and is responsible for the obligations he must fulfill.

These are briefly examined: The rights to which enforcement agents are entitled result from the obligations to which they are entitled on the part of their clients or third parties. An agent is liable for misconduct towards third parties if he intentionally or unconsciously commits an injustice, even if authorized by his client, because no one can legally authorize another person to commit an injustice in relation to the rights or property of others. An explicit power of attorney means that an agent has been expressly informed that he or she may act on behalf of a principal. If the agent has acted within the framework of the authorisation actually granted, the contracting authority shall compensate the agent for payments made during the relationship, whether the expenditure was expressly authorised or was necessary only to promote the contracting authority`s commercial activities. In this chapter, we look at the main-agent side of the triangle. In the next chapter, we will discuss relationships between third parties. However, in the case of a married woman, it must be stated that she cannot be an agent of others if her husband expressly opposes it, in particular if he can be held responsible for his actions. People who clearly have no understanding cannot be agents to others as idiots and lunatics. There is also necessarily the agency where an agent is appointed to act on behalf of a client who is physically or mentally unable to make a decision. This is not always a case of incapacity for work.

For example, business owners can designate agents who handle unexpected issues that occur in their absence. However, the rule of trade is very different; and in general, if there are several agents, everyone has all the power. For example, in the case of a shipment of goods intended for sale to two factors (whether or not they are partners), it is assumed that each of them has full power over the goods for the purpose of shipment. In addition to the personal remedies available to a representative to assert his claims against his client for his commissions and advances, he has a privilege over the client`s property in his hands. A representative acting within the limits of the powers conferred by his client binds the contracting entity to the obligations it creates towards third parties. There are essentially three types of authority recognized in the law: real authority (explicit or implicit), apparent authority, and ratified authority (explained here). Not all service contracts necessarily create a master-servant relationship. An important distinction is made between the status of agent and that of independent contractor. According to section 2 of the Agency (second), “An independent contractor is a person who enters into a contract with another person to do something for him, but who is not controlled by the other or subject to the right of the other to control himself with respect to his physical behavior in the performance of the business.” As the name suggests, the independent contractor is legally autonomous. A plumber employed by a contractor is an employee and representative of the contractor.

But a plumber who rents himself to repair pipes in people`s homes is an independent contractor. If you hire a lawyer to resolve a dispute, that person is not your employee or agent; She is an independent entrepreneur. .